


static shock

by anniegetyourplasmapistol



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Ficlet, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-18 15:53:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29736234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anniegetyourplasmapistol/pseuds/anniegetyourplasmapistol
Summary: A short, fluffy glimpse into the domestic bliss of Birdie (Sole Survivor) and Nick Valentine, after the events of FO4.
Relationships: Female Sole Survivor/Nick Valentine
Comments: 3
Kudos: 7





	static shock

Nick Valentine didn’t need sleep, or food, or drink. He chain-smoked like he gained all his life force from cigarettes. He still sat with Birdie at the small wooden table in the kitchen while she ate, talking like a couple over dinner, though there was never anything in front of him except a glass of water that served merely decorative purposes, as far as Birdie could tell. Ellie stayed for dinner sometimes, but most evenings she headed home to her small flat around the corner. At night, they’d listen to the radio. Birdie would curl up on the battered sofa with a book or the latest issue of Publick Occurrences and read. Sometimes, Nick would go over case notes with her, picking her brain to see if there was anything he missed. When it became late, and Birdie could barely keep her eyes open anymore, she’d bid Nick good night, knowing he’d be moving to his desk to work for a few hours.

Kissing him was like a static shock, though not an unpleasant one. He was meant to look almost human, but he was battered and old and clearly machine and not man. But the memories and the heart (as it were) encased inside the metal and rubber were those of a real man who Birdie was starting to fall for. So she’d get her static shock before climbing the stairs to the living quarters, her blonde hair standing slightly on end like a halo around her face. 

Upstairs was a cozy bedroom with bookshelves, a desk, and a small chair whose stuffing was starting to escape from its seams. In the attached bathroom, Birdie washed her face, brushed her hair and teeth, then slipped out of the day’s clothes and into an oversized Nuka-Cola shirt. Then she climbed between the cool sheets, the ones she washed every week and kept nice. The mattress wasn’t the best, but at least it wasn’t the ground or the uncomfortable makeshift bedding that was most likely the cause of her back pain. 

She liked it best when it rained. The soothing sound mingled with the music still softly drifting up from downstairs. Sometimes she’d hear Nick open a file cabinet, or typing, or - the sound she enjoyed most - his quiet humming along to the song on the radio. It was safe here. Birdie knew that she’d drift off to sleep shortly, and that at some point in the wee hours Nick would make his way upstairs. He’d go through the motions of getting ready for sleep that he didn’t need: slip out of his beat-up wingtips, fold his shirt and pants neatly over the chair, and place his tie on top. He’d get into the bed in his underthings with an empty ashtray and sit up and smoke and read or sometimes just let his mind wander. Birdie didn’t always wake up when he came up, but she was often half-aware of his presence there and snuggled up to him sleepily. Nick would place his hand on her head and gently stroke her hair until she was snoring again. 

This act - and it was an act, for Nick, because he didn’t need it - made Birdie feel the safest she had ever been, the most loved, the most cared for. Even though he got up with the sun, not content with sitting still for longer than necessary, Birdie would awake to the smell of fresh coffee and the sound of the radio, the rain easing and the sun sneaking into the skylight as it arose over Diamond City for another day.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! This was just a scene I had in my head and wanted to write down, even though there's no real plot or larger connection to anything else. My first FO4 piece - may write more featuring my Sole Survivor, Birdie.


End file.
